Earlier this month, we noted that California faced a lawsuit from the Department of Justice over its new status as a “Sanctuary State“.
Several red and purple states have now boarded this particular “Trump Train”.
Texas and more than a dozen other states led by Republican governors got behind the Trump administration on Monday in its lawsuit over California’s so-called sanctuary laws that protect people in the U.S. illegally.California’s laws are designed to interfere with or block federal immigration enforcement but the state does not have that authority, the other states said in a court filing in the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit against California. The filing in federal court in Sacramento supports the Justice Department’s attempt to block the laws.
The states who have filed currently are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia. The filings argue that California’s laws should be blocked on the same grounds that the SCOTUS struck down Arizona’s 2010 immigration law.
The Arizona law required police, while enforcing other laws, to question the immigration status of people suspected of being in the country illegally, made it a crime to harbor immigrants here illegally, and banned them from seeking work in public places.The U.S. Supreme Court struck down key provisions of the law in 2012. Justice Anthony Kennedy said Arizona may have “understandable frustrations” with immigrants who are in the country illegally, but added that it can’t pursue policies that “undermine federal law.”If Arizona’s laws are overridden by federal law, then so are California’s, the court filing for Texas and the other states said. They cited a legal document signed by California in the fight over Arizona’s law that said the removal of people in the country illegally was up to the federal government.
The South Carolina attorney general cited public safety concerns for his state’s move.
Attorney General Alan Wilson announced Monday the state is filing a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the Trump Administration’s lawsuit against California over state laws that intentionally obstruct the federal government’s ability to enforce the nation’s immigration law.“I’ve spent my career fighting to uphold the rule of law while California’s sanctuary cities policy thumbs its nose at the rule of law,” Wilson said. “States cannot be allowed to ignore federal laws they don’t like, especially when doing so puts public safety at risk.”
States aren’t the only entities jumping on the bandwagon. Tuesday, California’s own Orange County unanimously voted to join the lawsuit. ABC7 reported:
The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to join the Trump administration to challenge California’s sanctuary law.The board held a closed-door meeting on whether to join the government’s lawsuit against the state over the law, which bars police in many cases from turning over suspects to federal immigration agents for deportation.The board voted 4-0 to pass a resolution that blasts the state’s sanctuary law.”We must be certain that we are not providing assistance to undocumented immigrants who have chosen not to follow the rules. We need to look at every tool available to ensure public safety in the general public and homeless population,” said Supervisor Lisa Bartlett.The supervisors also said they’re going to legally challenge the state’s law in court.Earlier, activists called on supervisors to abstain from fighting the sanctuary law while playing music and holding signs to protest the decision. Along with the immigrant advocates were supporters of President Trump.
Interestingly, an email to the California Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office was not immediately returned. Becerra, Legal Insurrection readers will recall, is a general in the state’s War on Trump.
I bet that when he does respond, President Trump will be the main focus of his ire.
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